The present invention relates to electronic price label (EPL) systems, and more specifically to an electronic price label antenna.
EPL systems typically include a plurality of EPLs for merchandise items in a transaction establishment. EPLs typically display the prices of corresponding merchandise items on store shelves and are typically attached to a rail along the leading edge of the shelves. A transaction establishment may contain thousands of EPLs to display the prices of the merchandise items. The EPLs are coupled to a central server from where information about the EPLs is typically maintained in an EPL data file. Price information displayed by the EPLs is obtained from a price look-up (PLU) data file and stored within an EPL price change record. An example of an EPL is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,668,560, which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention. This patent is hereby incorporated by reference.
EPLs must be low in price. Previous antenna designs require a large printed circuit board area for a ground plane implementation. Previous antenna designs also require multiple number of folded metal components, such as a radiator and a shield-wall. Previous antenna designs also require numerous solder points, especially for assembling a shield-wall.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide an antenna for an EPL which requires less printed circuit board area, a single folded metal component which provides multiple functions, and fewer solder points, in order to minimize cost of manufacture.